Crowded lineup welcomes back Nuggets' J.R. Smith from suspension

MIAMI — The Nuggets lounged at the Four Seasons Hotel after Friday morning's shootaround, but J.R. Smith remained at the cavernous AmericanAirlines Arena, shooting jumper after jumper in the hear-a-pin-drop-quiet gym, while a maintenance man named Michael attended to the other end of the court.

The Nuggets played at 7:30 that night. This shootaround was Smith's game.

One assistant coach guarded the sweat-drenched Smith and another set picks — all while assistant Tim Grgurich barked gruff coaching commands like Mick in "Rocky."

The shooting guard, suspended for seven games because of a reckless driving charge, approached his daily workouts with the vigor of his teammates at night.

"Then watching your team on TV, knowing you can help," Smith said, "that's the worst."

Now, he can. Smith returns to the Nuggets (5-2) for Tuesday's game at Chicago.

"He's getting the repetitions he's needed," Denver coach George Karl said. "It's not as easy as people think. J.R. is going to have some rust. . . . But J.R. is so athletic that it probably won't take as long as maybe a normal dude."

Advertisement

Denver did go 5-2 without Smith, including victories against division rivals Utah and Portland. But Karl admitted he has seen "every hour on the clock — 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m.," as he pondered lineups with Smith unavailable. "We need J.R. back on the court, and we need him to conform and fit in as fast as possible."

Smith won't start right away — he thrived as a sixth man last season with 15.2 points per game — and Karl likes having that hot hand ready to burn opponents' second units. But Smith will play starter's minutes. He averaged 27.7 a season ago, and he played better defense and smarter offense as the season progressed.

So Karl has a quandary. Whose playing time gets trimmed? The coach doesn't have the answer in a sealed envelope. It's going to be a feeling-out process.

Initially, one could have assumed Joey Graham would be the odd man out, but there was Graham in Saturday's starting lineup at Atlanta, because Karl liked Graham's defensive matchup. Anthony Carter, a Karl favorite, played just 7 1/2 minutes in the Atlanta game, while rookie Ty Lawson, matched alongside guard Chauncey Billups at times, totaled nearly 27.

Lawson is the future, but he's already thriving in the present. And there's shooting guard Arron Afflalo, another Karl favorite after just a couple weeks.

"There's going to be a combination of J.R. and Arron on the floor together, maybe moving Arron more with the first unit, I don't know," Karl said.

In a way, this could be a good problem for Karl. It creates competition and urgency from his bench players.

As for the 24-year-old Smith, he can be a weapon. His speed and masterful footwork get him into the lane; his unconscious shooting can change the course of a game.

"And with him, the defense can't focus in on other guys," Denver forward Kenyon Martin said. "They've got to play honest. He gets our rotation back to where it needs to be."

A Chinese philosopher said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and for Smith, the past seven months must have seemed like a thousand miles. After the Western Conference finals, he found himself in a courtroom, sentenced to 24 days in jail for his role in a car accident that killed Smith's close friend.

From hugging the victim's mother to days staring at a prison cell wall, Smith battled emotional demons. There was also summertime nonsense with his appearance in a controversial online video with NBA center Eddy Curry.

"They understand what it takes for me to get to a certain level," Smith said. "Plus, they know the game, they know where I get my shots at, where I get the ball to make plays for other people. They're great at what they do."

Now it's time for Smith to do what he does — change games.

"There's more of a comfort zone and confidence with J.R. — (his teammates) knowing that he's standing there and has the ability to play-make for us," Karl said.

"At the end of last year, he was playing at a higher level, playing consistent-to-good basketball, and I think great athletes, great scorers, have a tendency of learning that as their careers go on.

"If you have a talented player that can be fundamentally sound, you have a special player. That's the direction J.R. is moving toward, where his scoring actions have a fundamental soundness to it — more than a spectacular feel, which sometimes has turnovers that come with it."

While you were away

Last season, Nuggets guard J.R. Smith averaged 15.2 points per game in 27.7 minutes. NBA reporter Benjamin Hochman looks at how the other backcourt players (besides all-star Chauncey Billups) filled the void with Smith suspended for Denver's first seven games:

Arron Afflalo: The scrappy defender has also provided plenty of offense, averaging 9.6 points per game in his 24.6 minutes, the fifth-most minutes on the team. He might be the surprise of the season so far for Denver.

Ty Lawson: Exceeding expectations with every zip down court, Lawson is playing with a veteran's swagger in his rookie season. Lawson averages 11.4 points, making lineup changes difficult for coach George Karl.

Anthony Carter: Karl started Carter in the first six games, because the coach was comfortable with the veteran's defense and knowledge of his teammates. Karl also likes Carter as a late-game defender.

Joey Graham: The blue-collar player is a wild card. He hasn't played much so far (12.3 minutes), but Karl started him in Denver's most recent game because Karl liked Graham's defensive matchup against the Hawks' Joe Johnson.

One-day event to run slide down University HillIt's not quite the alternative mode of transportation that Boulder's used to, but, for one day this summer, residents will be able to traverse several city blocks atop inflatable tubes.

"The Harder They Come" (Ecco), by T.C. Boyle T.C. Boyle's new book is about serious subject matters: a tourist from a cruise liner killing a robber at a port of call, a mentally ill young man running around with an assault rifle in the coastal forests of northern California, a radical movement that doesn't recognize the legitimacy of laws or Full Story